Paratus Namibia raises capital through rights issue

Pan-African network connectivity company Paratus Namibia has raised N$50-million to continue with its aggressive infrastructure rollout in Namibia.

According to a statement issued by the company, as part of a rights issue transaction, Nimbus Infrastructure Limited has subscribed for 24 398 ordinary shares to be issued from the authorised shares of Paratus Namibia.

The aggregate amount to be raised by Paratus Namibia in terms of the rights issue will be contributed as share capital in Paratus Namibia by Nimbus and Paratus Group, pro rata to their respective shareholdings in Paratus Namibia, the companies explained.

Nimbus's shareholding in Paratus Namibia will remain unchanged at 51.4%.

Paratus Namibia added that it is continuing to invest "aggressively" in telecommunications infrastructure, including fibre and 4G LTE.

"The board of Paratus Namibia approved a capital expenditure budget of N$114 million for the current financial year with N$56.5 million earmarked for the fiber to the x (FTTx) roll out and N$24.4 million for LTE network assets."

Harmse is confident that Paratus Namibia can fund its budgeted capital outlay from its free cash flows and the rights issue proceeds.

"Paratus has an impressive track record, both in Namibia and across the African continent. We have grown our customer base extensively, particularly in the corporate space, and we are actively expanding into the retail market," he concludes.

The GridOnline

Recently the network firm signed an agreement with the country's national power utility Nampower to commercialise its national fibre optic network and launch The GridOnline.

The GridOnline will extend fibre coverage and implement redundancy for its routes in and across Namibia.

According to Paratus it already provides redundancy on its fibre network from the Namibian West Coast to Caprivi, Botswana and through South Africa into its international network.

Harmse said: "We completed access into the Van Eck (Windhoek) and Swakopmund sub-station months ago. We went through an extensive and vigorous test phase. We have already commenced construction into the Zambezi (Caprivi) and Walvis Bay sub-stations. The Walvis Bay sub-station is ironically also named Paratus."